I have a older system that I no longer use. But do not want to toss it or donate it when someone could steal any old data left on it. How can you completely wipe a system so it can not be restored with a program? And what to do with the computer instead of throwing it away?
Safely Get Rid Of Old PC?
Disposing your PC before wiping out your data could be dangerous and you should shred your data first for security purposes. You can format the hard disk to ensure that all data has been erased. However that can still possibly be recovered using recovery tools.
Alternatively if your data is so sensitive and you feel paranoid about someone gaining access to it, your may retain your hard disk before disposing your PC. This is because all data is saved on the hard disk. Just open the CPU and locate the hard disk and disconnect it.